Naturopathic Foundation's blogs are written by naturopathic doctors that work at Naturopathic Foundation's Health Clinic in Markham, Ontario. The blogs provide detailed information on how to prevent and treat disease.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Heart Health - A Naturopathic Perspective

Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common causes of death in North America. For the most part, cardiovascular disease is preventable. It depends slowly over time due to lifestyle, chronic stress and environmental factors. Although prevention of heart disease is the primary goal of naturopathic medicine, there are many naturopathic therapies that are very effective in the treatment of disease as well.

Categories of Heart Disease

Cardiovascular disease can be grouped into four main categories: generalized cardiovascular disorders, disease of the heart, peripheral vascular disorders and blood disorders.

Conditions Associated with Cardiovascular Disease

There are a number of conditions associated with cardiovascular disease. When treating or preventing cardiovascular disease it is often important to address these conditions as well.

obesity

diabetes

high cholesterol

kidney disease

thyroid disease

endocrine disorders

Testing for Cardiovascular Disease

Standard medical testing often relies on cholesterol levels as the primary indication of cardiovascular health and/or risk of a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke. There are a number of other blood markers that can be very effective in both determining the degree of cardiovascular disease and the best treatment options. They include: (to learn more about these test click on the word)

Testing for the factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease is an important part of treatment and prevention. This testing may include:

Food sensitivity testing

Environmental toxin exposure

Adrenal stress testing

If you have a family history of heart disease or would like to assess your risk for heart disease talk to your naturopathic doctor about the tests above to see if they are appropriate for you.

Treating Cardiovascular Disease

The treatment strategy that is required depends on the current health risk and the severity of the disease process. In high risk or progressive states medication may be required. The general naturopathic treatment strategy is as follows:

address the mental-emotional impact of stress on cardiovascular health

balance out and address the side-effects of many cardiovascular medications, such as those taken for hypertension or high cholesterol.

The advantages of the naturopathic approach to heart disease is that it focuses on treating the causes of disease, it recognizes that integration of a person's lifestyle and environment with their health status and it utilizes effective therapies without many of the side-effects of prescription medications.